News and Announcements
Cagbalete residents inaugurate the island's solar-powered water pumping system
On May 09th, residents of Cagbalete island inaugurated a newly completed water pumping system that will supply clean, potable water to the island’s more than 2,000 households.
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Solar-powered water pumping station
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Water refilling station
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Resting along the waters of Lamon Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the island, located on the east of the Quezon province, does not have reliable access to basic social services such as electricity and water. To access water from the ground, project partners Quezon Power, the Alliance for Mindanao and Multi-regional Renewable/Rural Energy Development – or AMORE – Program, and the municipal government of Mauban utilized solar power to run the system’s submersible pump. Two units of 210-watt peak solar photovoltaic panels provide the requisite electricity to pump water up a 12-cubic meter concrete water reservoir.
Residents have always bought drinking water from town, or otherwise, drank water from the shallow wells found all over the island. They paid nearly 55 pesos for every 20-liter container of water, including labor and transportation costs.
Teachers at the island’s elementary school are excited that they no longer have to do that now. And they have more reasons to be happy – a pipe connected to the water tank directly leads to their quarters, and makes water readily available at the spin of a faucet.
The school, headed by the principal, Herminiano Caňete, and all the 12 teachers also have a new “business” to manage. A water refilling station will soon serve the island’s households with safe potable water, and at a cheaper price, too, than when water is ferried from town. The school plans to sell at 25 pesos for a 20-liter container, a big 30-peso savings to their usual water expenditure.
If even only 5 percent of the total households in the island bought water from the school-managed water refilling station everyday, the water system is poised to generate a revenue of more than 900,000 pesos annually. The income-generating project will provide the necessary leverage for more development initiatives in the island.
Constructed on the island’s elementary school-annex grounds, the new water system was turned over to both the barangay and school administrations for operation and maintenance.
Quezon Power (Philippines) Limited Co. is a 460 MW coal-fired generating facility located in Mauban, Quezon Province. It is committed to protect the environment and to this end has employed environmental technologies that ensure plant emissions are at a safe level. An energy company that is committed not only to provide electricity but also to improve the quality of life in communities it operates in, Quezon Power implements projects focused on education and environment protection, conservation and awareness among others.
The AMORE Program is a rural electrification alliance between the United States Agency for International Development, Philippine Department of Energy, SunPower Foundation and Winrock International. AMORE works with rural communities and their environments to provide waterless villages access to safe potable water. Various technologies such as spring development, rainwater harvesting and solar-powered pumping system are used to harness natural resources found in communities.
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